The President of the Constitutional Court, Mr Pavel Rychetský, visited Luxembourg last week. The purpose of the working visit was a trio of meetings. The official programme opened on Wednesday afternoon with a meeting with the President and Vice-President of the Luxembourg Constitutional Court, Mr Roger Linden and Mr Francis Delaporte. In addition to the parallels in competences and functions, the two constitutional courts are also members of international judicial organisations, namely the Conference of European Constitutional Courts (CECC) and the World Conference on Constitutional Justice (WCCJ). The first part of the meeting was dedicated to the exchange of information on the latest case law of both institutions, while the second part focused on the situation in the international judicial community and the international situation in a broader context. 

The second of the meetings took place on Thursday morning. Mr Pavel Rychetský was welcomed at the seat of the EU Court of Justice by its President, Mr Koen Lenaerts. The conversation was devoted, among other things, to the relationship between the constitutional courts of the EU Member States and the Court of Justice. In particular, it concentrated on the interaction of national systems of protection of constitutionality (judicial review) with the system of protection and enforcement of EU law. The question of the preliminary reference, which is, however, much more frequently used by the general courts, was also discussed. 

The meeting with the President of the Court of Justice was followed by a meeting with Czech representatives of the EU judicial authorities. These are Mr Jan Passer (Judge of the Court of Justice), Ms Petra Škvařilová-Pelzl (Judge of the General Court) and Mr David Petrlík (Judge of the General Court). 

Pavel Dvořák
Head of External Relations and Protocol Department

From left to right: Secretary General of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic Mr Vlastimil Göttinger, Vice-President of the Constitutional Court of Luxembourg Mr Francis Delaporte, President of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic Mr Pavel Rychetský and President of the Constitutional Court of Luxembourg Mr Roger Linden

President of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic Mr Pavel Rychetský with President of the European Court of Justice Mr Koen Lenaerts

From left to right: Judge of the General Court Ms Petra Škvařilová-Pelzl, President of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic Mr Pavel Rychetský, Judge of the European Court of Justice Mr Jan Passer and Judge of the General Court Mr David Petrlík